2 things about the Popular Mechanics bike. How do you climb on and instead of the goofy stick, I'd have kept the retro look by topping the steering bar with an older, simple steering wheel resting in place by adjusting the steering pipe curve.

Sweet looking ride! And I love the 'no jig!', how did you line it all up?

On welds 1 and 2, I put a short piece of tube inside the joints. Self tapping screws on each side of the joint will hold it while its welded. Then take out the screws and put a plunge weld in the screw holes.

That FELT Scythe is a beautiful chopper. Great score! I like your homebuilds better... I'm still making and riding cheap and easy to build bikes.

I paid 500 USD for that chopper. IMO it was cheaper than to build, paint, nickel a similar one. Its Brooks saddle would cost 100 USD alone, used.

My only problem is, that it is a single speed, and I live in a hilly town. Rear fork spacing is 110mm, massive, valuable alu frame, I do not want to cut it. I am thinking about an adapter to widen it to 130mm, and using a geared hub.